CHAPTER TWO

Ambrosius was hunched over the bar, trying to prop himself up on one elbow. H2Eau was the most popular club, so he had a huge pile of applicants to go through. After the long day he had, all the chefs started to blend together. The island was hot, so Bro could forgive them for forgetting their shirts, but he quickly grew annoyed when each and every applicant failed to bring along a résumé.

Bro groaned and rubbed at his eyes when relentless boredom swept through him. He was surrounded by so much tanned and glistening skin, but he wasn't interested in looking at other men while he had Kevin back at home. He couldn't even appreciate the simple aesthetics of a toned chest anymore because there was only one person he wanted. He was completely dependent on his aspirant.

Bro instantly regretted letting Kevin stay home. He should have just dragged the boy along with him. Kevin would have stayed behind the bar as he fumed with sulky defiance, but a lucky charm didn't have to be pleasant in order to be effective. Kevin would have pouted a good portion of the day away, but at least that was something they could do together.

Ambrosius was lost in his misery until he heard a light rapping against the bar. It was slow and consistent and rattled him away from his thoughts.

Bro looked up and he saw Griffen standing before him. His sharp claws were tapping away at the wood. Ambrosius looked him over with a tired eye and decided that he had nothing left to say to the other warlock.

"You're overqualified," Bro simply sighed and waved the next applicant over.

"That's not why I'm here."

Griff grabbed Bro's whisky glass and inhaled the heavy, oaky fumes. Once he had Bro's complete attention, he drank it all down. All the while, he emanated a sense of superior air. Bro always resented Griff's natural authority, so he stubbornly sat upright on his stool. He felt beaten whenever he wasn't with Kevin, but he wasn't about to let Griff know that.

Of course, Griff only had to consider Bro's appearance for a moment before he abandoned his superior edge. Instead, he laid a comforting hand over Bro's and squeezed.

Ambrosius quickly whipped his hand away. Pity was far worse than superiority. Sadly, his move was far too late. Griff's gentle gesture instantly reminded him how just a simple touch could be a source of outstanding energy. As much as Ambrosius resented a Tresum Council, Griffen still had many things to show him.

"I feel a tremor every time Tresum is called upon and I know you feel it, too," Griff said. Although there was a hint of force in his voice, it was mostly said with kindness.

Ambrosius broke eye contact. Griffen was being far too courteous for his liking. He tried not to fidget under the other warlock's dark eyes, but Bro franticly rubbed at his hand as if he were burnt. Once he stopped himself, he too could feel the forces of Tresum trembling through the earth. The pounding rhythm made his nostril flare. He couldn't pretend it was Grace's doing any longer. Someone else was calling upon Tresum.

While Bro already knew it was Kevin, he still awaited Griffen's next words with painful anticipation.

"We're lucky the tsunami only wiped out Dante's Cove," Griff said, "but the shifting ocean currents are affecting the rest of the world. It's no coincidence this started the day you made Kevin your aspirant."

Bro was still confused. What concern was the rest of the world as long as he and Kevin were happy? They were already well on their way to fulfilling their destiny together.

"That cannot be possible," Bro argued. "Tresum chose Kevin!"

"No. Tresum chose you to guide Kevin."

Griff continued to watch Ambrosius, hoping that he finally penetrated that great big wall of denial Bro liked to hide behind. For the first time since Griff met Bro, Ambrosius Vallin started to resemble a true Tresum avatar.

Griff gave an encouraging nod, even though he knew it would be of no comfort just yet. He knew Ambrosius frowned upon organized magic, but Griffen only served Tresum's best interest. In time, he believed that Bro would see that, too.

"You are Kevin's avatar," Griff reminded patiently. "You feel him at all times." He then leaned across the bar and pinned Bro with his piercing brown eyes. "Tell me, can you feel him now?"

Ambrosius pulled back as a haunting awareness coursed through him. Something was decidedly wrong. Kevin had rekindled his eternal flame with endless flares of radiance, but in the past few months, he had felt the boy drifting further and further away. Bro knew that if he did not catch hold of him soon, Kevin would disintegrate into the darkness and become yet another casualty of Tresum.

And at that moment, Bro could not even feel the slightest sense of his aspirant. He shot Griff a look that was torn somewhere between horror and outrage.

"You know what to do," Griffen assured. "Your actions have been nothing less than instantaneous and instinctive. You are a Tresum avatar, after all. Tresum will always show you the way."

Ambrosius didn't wait for the words to sink in before he turned away from Griff. The fierce sense of foreboding that gripped him earlier grew remarkably more intense. He found it difficult to breathe. It was cruel of Tresum to send him an aspirant only to take him away, but if he had learned anything from Grace, that was a habit of the dark arts.

Usually, Bro would resent Griff for being so understanding, but at this moment he would take advantage of it. He couldn't fight the overwhelming urge to flee. He just stood up and bolted without offering any excuses.